The other half of the spending was spread out among more than 3,000 different defense contractors.

The report, according to Black, offers “a glimpse [into] the usually classified world of special operations.” It does this by analyzing data culled from the Federal Procurement Data System to provide “a detailed snapshot of activities carried out by the ‘military industrial complex,’ and points to ways in which these activities connect to remote warfare.” This analysis “shows how corporations are integrated into some of the most sensitive aspects of special operations activities,” from “flying drones and overseeing target acquisition… [to] interrogating prisoners and translating captured material.”

“Among the most expensive individual transactions,” wrote Black, “[were] radio communications from Harris Corporation; translation support in classified locations from Shee Atika LLC; procurement of drones equipment from Aerovironment Inc.; worldwide and Indian Ocean satellite services from DRS Technical Services Inc.; and IT Services from L-3.”